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Completely dead-- how can I figure out what's wrong?

K

knownothingbutphysic

Member
Here's what happened. After turning my on computer the last time, it finished booting up and loading all the programs that autostart, then I heard a small explosion and smelled something burnt.

It is completely dead now, nothing happens when I turn on the power. I don't know much about computers, but I figure it's not a problem with periphrals, it must be either the processor or the motherboard that's dead. The question is how to determine which part needs to be replaced. I do have another computer, but it is a P4 system, while the one in question is a Slot-1 P3 500Mhz on a 440BX MB, so I can't plug the processor into my other system to see whether it works.

My guess is that the chalk dust caused the heat sink or heat sink fan to malfunction and fried the CPU. But could it be simply the failure of the power supply or the motherboard?

Any comments are appreciated.
 
What ddeder said. Are there any lights or noises at all coming from the comp? If you can't even hear or see your power supply fan moving then that's probably the culprit.
 
Thanks. The fan does not move, absolutely nothing happens when I turn it on. How do I test the PSU? What made me suspect the CPU is that the unit seems to be very loose now while I thought it should be very securely mounted on the MB, so I suspect the small explosion happened in the CPU. So the fan should work regardless whether the CPU works, right? Thank you.
 
if you heard any type of a loud pop... and none of the capacitors on the motherboard around the CPU look burnt or blown up, its most likely just the power supply (which is really sounds like it is anyways).... easiest way to test is to try a new power supply... if you can get your hands on one that will work in that system, or just buy a new one
 
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